Oculus Rift pre-orders get free shipping, but its Terms of Service raises eyebrows

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Two new pieces of Rift-related news today: First, the company has acknowledged it’s been hit by an “unexpected component shortage,” which delayed some of its shipments. Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe took to Twitter to address the problem. According to Iribe, Oculus will provide free shipping on all preorders, including international ones, as a way to apologize to its most dedicated fans.

A later tweet clarified that all preorders made between January and April 1 will be free, regardless of when they were placed. There’s been some concern from Rift backers and pre-orders over when devices would actually ship and the company has been criticized for being largely silent on these issues — it’s good to see some clarification on the topic. That said, Oculus is still apparently struggling to process orders; a number of Twitter users claim not to have received confirmation emails days after placing an order.

The current shipping date for an Oculus Rift is July 2016 if you haven’t placed an order, but there’s no harm in letting the ecosystem firm up a bit. While we’re excited about the long-term potential of virtual reality, current reviews suggest the hardware and software suites are both first-gen products with the promise and pitfalls that entails.

Oculus’ Terms of Use raise eyebrows

Oculus’ shipping issues aren’t the only potential cloud on the horizon for the VR company. Gizmodo read through the Rift’s Terms of Use and pointed out some verbiage that’s likely to concern the privacy-minded. Some of the language is boilerplate-standard for a social company like Facebook, which grants itself the right to use any content you upload to the service for any purpose it wishes without acknowledgement, compensation, or expectation of privacy.

Oculus also states that it collects information about your specific system, IP address, and other device identifiers, data on the games, content, and applications installed on your system, your location information (including your exact location if you are using a mobile device), and your physical movements and dimensions while using VR.

The privacy policy notes it may receive information about you from companies that are related to Facebook and Oculus, and that it may purchase additional information about you from third parties that specialize in data collection. That information will be used to provide you with Oculus Rift services, but can also be used explicitly for marketing, as shown below:

Oculus notes that it can share your information with Facebook and its related partners, as well as “vendors, service providers, researchers and other partners, who work at our direction to support the Services (such as hosting our Services, fulfilling orders, facilitating payments, analyzing the way people use our Services, processing credit card payments, providing customer service, or sending electronic communications for us).”

Finally, the company notes that it can share anonymized data at any time, with anyone it pleases, and that it may partner with third parties to provide content, marketing, and functionality within the Oculus Store. “These and other third parties may collect information about your use of our Services, including through the use of cookies, device IDs, local storage, pixels and other technologies, and this information may be collected over time and combined with information collected on different websites and online services.”

Kudos to Oculus for at least being honest and open about what it collects and what it intends to do with it. The company’s data collection plans probably aren’t much different than what other companies suck down these days, and at least Oculus is being open about what it wants to gather and what it does with it.

On the other hand, Terms of Service like this are going to be read as confirming the worst fears of VR enthusiasts who were unhappy when Facebook acquired the service. However common the total hoovering of user data may be these days, it still sits badly with individuals who aren’t willing to accept handing over all of their personal information simply because they purchased a product. The fact that Oculus is open about using such information for marketing while buying more data about its users from third parties is commendable, but it also highlights how we’ve been collectively commodified.

Companies like Facebook can get away with saying that users of a free service should expect to be marketed too — user data is the currency FB relies on to offer its product. At what point does a customer pay enough money to actually receive privacy when they purchase something? Evidently $600 isn’t enough.

Tagged In

Well that makes my decision easier if and when I get into VR–it may be a while because I’m not willing to pay the ridiculous prices. I won’t be buying Oculus, that’s for sure, and thankfully we have alternatives popping up like HTC.

Mike

Exactly my thoughts. Made the choice easy.

I’ll Jive for the Vive!

OrumusST

Was going to basically say the same thing. Never-mind you said it for me lol.

Deemer OP

“I’m not willing to pay the ridiculous prices.”

The vive is more expensive that the rift, fyi. Not sure if you realize what Oculus has done for VR.

Zunalter

The Vive comes with motion controllers standard. Once you factor in the price for OR’s motion controllers, they are almost identical.

Ian

You’re also forgetting the cameras and native steam support.

UniBeam

That’s assuming that the Vive ToS are not just as invasive.

Joel Hruska

True. This is one reason I recommended people not pre-order (along with wanting to see performance, support, and logistical information).

cpy

You think HTC won’t collect your data?

Mr_Blastman

We don’t know yet and if they do, I don’t need them, either. It’s time folks stop being headless idiots and stand up to the crap they don’t like–and sometimes that means sacrificing something we may want in the name of principles.

Kevin Davis

You think HTC with the vive will treat your information any differently?HAHA!

Joel Hruska

I didn’t say that. However, saying “Everyone is terrible” is not actually a product recommendation.

Zunalter

“At what point does a customer pay enough money to actually receive privacy when they purchase something?”

All the money…and then just maybe.

cpy

You just have to block traffic the old fashioned way or install just drivers i guess. I will be getting OR this year probably and i will block every damn spyware traffic it creates. Redirect their domain names to 127.0.0.1, block suspicious IPs. Maybe there will be just driver only install. Who knows.

Jeremy Olson

Privacy is an illusion. If you own a phone and use the internet you don’t have privacy.

goldenboy77

thanks I will not b buying this pice of junk

Demose

One of the benefits of the linux users having to write their own device drivers for unusual hardware is not having to deal with these kinds of things.

Rene

I read their TOS. Not paying them $600 to hoover my data, take my IP, and perpetually destroy my ability to fight back(although there is some weasel worded opt-out before 30 days process for the latter).

Tony_IA

“At what point does a customer pay enough money to actually receive privacy when they purchase something?”
This is a really good question that has a much larger reach than just Oculus when it comes to all software.
Microsoft would answer “never”, if Windows 10 is any example. Google & Apple OS on phones would also say “never”, and those are paid for and well over $600 devices. I think almost every phone app, free or purchased wants to look at bookmarks, contacts, and everything they can get their grubby electronic fingers on.
So the real item here is that any software, if purchased or not, presumes to have ownership of any information you enter that it can get to….that’s the real article we should be reading about. Kudos to Oculus for being honest – but where is my opt out option?

Kevin Davis

Joel,you misunderstood me.The article was very good.My comment was not directed at you at all,it was directed at those saying things like”well,I know what not to buy now”.As though only rift did this and not the others.Thanks for the informative article and keep up the good work.

Joel Hruska

Understood, and thank you. :)

Reginald Peebottom

This lack of tech privacy is something that people will have to get used to. If arguably the most free societies have this kind of privacy intrusions already, it’s only going to get worse with the rise of China and other countries without that kind of historical/cultural freedom “bias”.

And there are many in the US government and even populace who support little or no privacy – for security reasons, you understand. But once it’s ok for that reason, there will be other “good” reasons like corporate well being and “competitiveness”.

KIMS

WAIT? Did you just state that “arguably” the USofA is the most free society? Holy shit get your blinds off man! Either that or start arguing! The land of the free, where people can’t say “F***” on the radio or the news, where the whole nation goes apeshit over a slipped nipple on super bowl but showing decapitations on prime-time news is just fine and dandy. Where police and intelligence services use predator devices to illegally construct chains of evidence, where you can get shot for unknowingly hiking through a piece of land that turns out was “private”, where your “Democratic” election processes are a JOKE and should offend every single voter in the nation regardless of “party” affiliation. Yeah, this society is so free it makes me want to cry.

Oh, and “freedom of your religion” trumps my freedom to live by my religion or belief system. Where even companies have been awarded rights as “individuals” so that a COMPANY may tread on my rights to choose e.g. contraception or make decisions about my life. Where people in “public service” regularly do great disservice to their constituents to further their own agenda (be it personal belief system or personal greed)… Yeah, again, this country is so FREE if it gets any more “free” than this, we might as well move to China.

Scott

Holy shit your post is fucking stupid. You start off OK, but then take a drive down stupid lane. Lets start with contraception. How is it that people still argue that a company refusing to pay for contraception is somehow a violation of rights? You aren’t forced to work there – there are plenty of other places that will pay.

What a tragedy it would be if you actually had to pay for your own goods and services yourself. What about the owner’s freedom to run their business as they see fit? I guess starting a business you give up your freedom?

And to what a are you referring with “freedom of religion”? Are you talking about the case where someone didn’t want to make a wedding cake for a gay marriage? Because I’ve got news for you: they cake maker should be free to choose whatever they want or don’t want for any reason at all, and the people getting married are free to go somewhere else. Are cakes somehow a basic human right? Are people going to be dying in the streets without them? Why the hell don’t cake makers get freedom?

You sound like one of the people that define freedom as “You’re free to choose, as long as I like it. Otherwise I’m gonna push the government to make a law against what I don’t like or requiring whatever it is I want.”

KIMS

“You sound like one of the people that define freedom as “You’re free to choose, as long as I like it. Otherwise I’m gonna push the government to make a law against what I don’t like or requiring whatever it is I want.””
–> Actually sounds like you want the same thing.. You want Government laws to protect businesses. Don’t want to sell someone cake? Fine, as you said, they can go elsewhere.. As far as “go work somewhere else”
a) that may not be an available choice (unless you want ppl to just go on wellfare, there may not be other jobs then and there), and
b) you argue that just because you open a business you shouldn’t give up any freedoms, well, why should a person have to give up THEIR rights just because their employer don’t agree..

Where do you draw the line though? If a business is free to discriminate based on religion or gender or sexual orientations, where does it end? -and how do you uphold those right while still protecting the right of the individual?

And no, they didn’t have to PAY for that, it was already standard/mandated in the plans… they wanted to specifically enforce their religious views on all their workers.. There wasn’t a cost factor to it.

You’ve still not convinced me that this country is “arguably more free” than other countries, my arguments may be fallible but you have provided none.

Scott

Business owners are people too. Why is it they don’t get to choose what they offer in a health plan? Oh I know, it’s because some people didn’t like the choices some owners made, so politicians passed laws taking away their freedom to choose. Leaving your job might not be a fun choice, but freedom doesn’t mean forcing your employer to run their business like you want them to.

I’m not saying there should be no regulation. There are times when business become monopolies or use fraud etc. to get what they want. I’m OK curbing that.

I’m also not saying the US is perfect. There is certainly some stupid stuff that goes on here. Censorship, invasion of privacy, and election fraud are all issues – but in which country are they better? Some countries will throw in in jail for speech. Some don’t ever need a search warrant to spy on you. All the things you mention are issues in other countries, and as a whole, worse than the US.

Scott

One more thing – I re-read my post, sorry for being a dick. I guess I’m in a bad mood today.

ELLAS

Nobody should buy this at all. The terms are ridiculous.

apoc1138

They want permission host anything you upload, like avatar pics or game reviews. That pretty standard for any site with a social platform, like gizmodo themselves have virtually the same tos.

Someone has been through the app and the data it uploads is anonymised. The only other stuff they can attach to a name is what youve bought and how long youve played it for. This is all stuff that Steam have in their tos as well.

Jeremy Olson

Honestly, this doesn’t bother me at all. It has no real impact on me so it’s not a huge deal. I still think Oculus is the better choice. I almost bought the Vive…but not really into full body motion control and I didn’t like even one of the launch titles.

BaronMatrix

A lot of this may be because Facebook wants a VR experience… But they never added any content for it… They just gave us ad-filled silly games and no rights as adult Americans…

I don’t think I’ll ever use Facebook again but we’ll see about Rift… I would love a game where i can actually duck and turn… But I hear the Vive has a better system for walking around and I need to get out of my chair…

I’ll definitely end up with one after I see the new Nano… If they get 2.5X perf with Polaris a Nano Polaris should be 125W with the same perf as the original… OUCH…

Neutrino .

Sounds like they should be damn well paying me to use their personal data capture device.

LanceHarmstrong

Vive it is, then.

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